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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Three incidents, one sad conclusion

In an attempt to break a record, 1,500 bowls of Sarawak laksa had to be thrown away, sparking fury of everyone.

By Mariam Mokhtar

Nov 02, 2016 8:00 AM

Last week, Khairy Jamaluddin, the Youth and
Sports Minister, told the police to block of all roads leading to
Dataran Merdeka, to stop Bersih 5 protestors from assembling for the
final push towards Dataran Merdeka. He said that the way to stop the Red
Shirts protest was to stop Bersih 5 from happening.

Isn't he shortsighted and his reasoning flawed?

Bersih was formed because the government is not transparent and its ministers are neither accountable nor responsible.

The Red Shirts leader, Datuk Jamal Yunos, has declared all-out-war on
Bersih and he has threatened bloodshed, so the onus should be on the
IGP to arrest the person who has incited violence. Instead the IGP
claims that Jamal is merely using a war of words. The rakyat is not
dense nor easily fooled.

If it is just a war of words, there is no need to prevent Bersih 5 from reaching Dataran Merdeka.

Why is Khairy, who is part of the government machinery, afraid of the
rakyat exercising its democratic rights? Why is he unable to see that
Bersih is all about clean, fair and free elections, and the restoration
of true governance.

In the second incident last week, a young father, Mohd Sukri Saad,
threw himself off the second Penang bridge, to end his suffering, the
nation was shocked to read his poignant and brutally truthful
confession. He acknowledged that he had done something wrong and asked
for forgiveness from his family.

In trying to make ends meet, Sukri was caught selling RM360 worth of
contraband cigarettes. On the day he committed suicide, he was due to be
charged in court. He knew he would be imprisoned and fined.

He decided against going to jail, because of the shame it would bring
his children, whom he feared would be branded the children of a
convict.

Knowing that he had been unfairly treated, he cited the "director who
stole millions, but was freed on bail." He felt oppressed by a cruel
government and said that he chose suicide, because he had no money and
was unwilling to borrow money from others, getting into debt and
burdening others with his problems.

In a message, which touched many Malays and Muslims, whom he believed
to be in a similar predicament, he implored PAS president, Hadi Awang,
not to be tricked by Umno-Baru into tabling the Hudud Bill. He pleaded
with Hadi to return to the Opposition fold, to make it a credible force
again, and to serve the rakyat better.

Sukri is a victim, like so many others in Malaysia. Will PAS at
least, consider his final thoughts? What happened to the support system,
to help similar Malays/Muslims, who have fallen on hard times, and
reached the end of their tether?

The final report about the wastage of 1500 servings of Sarawak laksa,
is a direct reflection of the sort of society we have become.

We have descended to become a people which can be characterised as
self-serving, glory seeking, materialistic, uncompassionate,
insensitive and false.

Celebrity chef Wan was involved in a publicity stunt at a local
shopping mall, in an attempt to break the record of the largest bowl of
Sarawak laksa.

After the record had been achieved, it was reported that the food had to be ditched because it was unfit for human consumption.

Why? This is not good publicity for Sarawak laksa.

The organisers were more interested in chasing records. They could
have donated the uncooked food, to the poor and improved their
reputations. Instead, the organisers' have come across as being
disconnected from the real world of soaring prices, increased taxes and
waste.

These three cases, show that all that matters, is the breaking of a
record, and the presence of a celebrity. They show a complete disregard
for people's sensitivities, the breakdown of a nation and the robbing of
the rakyat of its democratic freedom.

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